HOOPSWORLD.COM: Jermaine O’Neal wants to be a Laker

I have no idea how I missed this but thanks to GetGarnett.com reader Ajay Virk for mentioning this to me from the HOOPSWORLD.COM article that I posted last night.

The Lakers may not get Jermaine O’Neal, despite both parties being willing. The Lakers are holding fast to the “one asset for one asset” philosophy and the team is not willing to trade Kobe Bryant. Marcus Camby was mentioned early in June as a possibility for the Lakers, but informed sources label the Bulls as a more likely suitor for Camby. Jermaine O’Neal wants to be a Laker, but it seems the Nets have the best offer on the table – Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic. If The Lakers stay true to their process of “one or the other, not both” with regards to Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, they could find themselves on the outside looking in, especially with Memphis all but pulling Pau Gasol off the table – reducing the big man market by one All-Star.

Jaime is the co-owner and Operating Director for LakerNation.com from Alhambra, CA. He's help create the official websites for Kevin Durant and Goodwin Sports. Currently, he's the Online Producer for FOX Sports Radio and AM570 KLAC.

http://www.bebo.com Ashraf

lets get that big nigga if he wants to be a laker do that deal odam and bynum to get jermaine o.neal ya heard

http://www.youtube.com/darkice18 darkice18

if we dont get KG…then YES JO is the next fo sure targer…we should offer them these guys:

Trade Bynum and a first with a filler for J.O, Kobe J.O., and Odom will be nice we would just need a veteran pg. That is only if we dont get garnett

laker2421

I would love for the Lakers to get JO IF McFail screws us and we dont get KG. JO is real good all star, KG is one of the best ever! WE WANT KG!

lakerfan81

I like O’neal but his numbers have been declining the last couple of years (offensively, last year he was as good as ever on the defensive end). There are a lot of ? surrounding O’neal and it would be a risky trade. Besides I thought he said no matter what team he was on, he would opt out after next year because he wants to be a FA. I don’t know that he would because he would be losing money but you never know. If you could make the trade without including both players than I would go for it in a second. Especially if they would take odom and not Bynum. That would allow Bynum to develop with less pressure because he wouldn’t be relied upon as much, besides I think Bynum shows a lot of promise on the defensive end. In a couple of years a O’neal/Bynum combo might make a really good front court. But that is just wishful thinking.

I would rather trade for Gasol if the lakers had to part with both Odom and Bynum. A Odom and Bynum for Gasol and Swift. I’m not high on swift but his contract has only 2 more years left and he could be used as a trading commodity around the trade deadline. Gasol would excel in the triangle offense because of his ability to play both the high post and the low post. He is not as good a defensive player as O’neal but he is an adequate shot blocker (2.14) and a good help defender. Having him play PF with a center that can play defense will cover up any inadequacies at that end. Plus he is only 25 so in 3-4 years when Kobe is no longer in his prime Gasol will just be getting there. Miami is looking to trade Haslem for a PG (they want Alston. If I were Houston I would do this trade in a second). If they do that trade they will need to replenish the PF spot so maybe a 3 team trade may work:

That would give a wing defender to come off the bench (or start but I would still probably start Walton he knows the offense better). The lakers would be overloaded at the SF position with Walton/Posey/Radmon but Radmon could play the PF position in a small lineup when the lakers need extra shooters. Probably just wishful thinking though.

But I am allowed to dream am I not.

daboss1848

two assets for KG or Pau, but not O’Neal . . .

Puffy has been losing his step and missing too many games.

showtime88

fine…but we arent giving up LAMAR and ANDREW for JO.

sorry…we already went through this.

one yes..both no.

Ricky

showtime88

i absolutely agree with you, this issue has been there, done that! if jermaine o’neal wants to be a laker, that’s fanfreakingtastic!! however, i will not trade for him if i had to give up both lamar odom and andrew bynum. it’s either one or the other, or it’s no deal at all. if i were the pacers and had to select either lamar or bynum, i would select bynum…reasons being is that he is young, a potentially talented player, great size and length, and will be a great addition towards rebuilding for the future.

so if the lakers were to pursue jermaine o’neal if garnett somehow becomes unable to attain, then i will package a deal including bynum, brown, radmanovic, and a future first round pick. works nicely for both teams because the pacers get a chance to rebuild with a young center in bynum, they get an expiring contract and decent defender in kwame, an excellent shooter in radmanovic, and a first round pick in ’08. on the flipside, the lakers will have one of the best trios in all of the nba featuring kobe, odom, and o’neal. the future is still there even though bynum is gone, because we would still have farmar, turiaf, and crittenton.

let’s propose this deal and if larry bird won’t agree, then we all know he’s cuckoo, the pun definitely intended!! haha

Leave a Reply[/quote]
I don’t think they want to trade Pau. But supposedly they were considering it last year at the trade deadline with Chicago. So who knows. But at this point getting Gasol is just wishful thinking.

lakerfan81

One more thing. He will really have to push it to get traded.

KingKobe

Yeah, he’s gonna have to ask to be traded specifically to the Lakers if we want him for Bynum and crap as opposed to Bynum and Odom. Trading Bynum and Odom together for Any player (JO, Pau, or even KG) doesn’t make the Lakers much better than they already were.

Lakerfan81, you said they might have heard Jermaine say he was gonna opt out next year but he’s actually got 3 years left on his contract. So it’s a gamble even if we do get him for Bynum because if the team doesn’t win that team salary is gonna be through the roof for a while and it’ll be hard to trade him.

remy

omg…just do it, sign fisher and get jo, it will be a major upgrade from last year, if we don’t get KG and now we’ll on the verge of blowing this too??!?

DeepFrost

he wants to be a Laker but WE don’t want him here for LO and AB… so bye bye JO)…

btw Fatty man how’s the trade-o-meter doing?)

http://www.lakerfreak.homestead.com lakerfreak

i want him to be a laker too but not if we have to give up Lamar for him cuz LO is better then JO

lakerfan81

JO has the option to forfeit the last 2 yrs of his contract to become a unrestricted FA if he so desires. So he can opt out. If he was traded to the lakers and opted out then his contract comes off the salary. But if the lakers trade for him they will have to get him to sign an extension because theres no point in trading away your future for 1 year.

” The CBA doesn’t allow draft picks to be traded for 30 days. So Wright could not be involved in a deal for Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett (as was rumored) until early August. That means the Warriors either have moved on from their Garnett dreams, figured they can get the deal done without Wright, or expect trade talks to continue for a while. “

All we have to do is press for him.The Bucks wants him bad.But if we show the same focus It would be easy.Hes wants to play in La.The Chinese
want a big market anyway.Then boom he ask to be traded to the laker’s
give them Bynum and other parts or picks.We keep Odom get a guaranteed scorer and still have the Mle.On top of the trading pieces(Cook,Kwame.Mihm,Radman.On top of that we had a hell of a draft(to me).We are fine because we don’t give too much and were still young but better with trades(smart trades).tell me Sun Yu aint going to be good he can pass and shoot.Let me STOP.

Fatty

Deepfrost

The KG to LA [Trade-O-Meter] has been slow to cooperate this morning. When I turned him on, it mumbled something about being out late drinking, complained about a headache and said it had to have a cigaret first?

Saturday the 7th percentage is [95.75%]

Arnie

If the Pacers insist on Odom & Bynum for J-O’Neal, the Lakers should refuse. Of course KG is the top priority, but J-O has proven he does not come up big against the Western Conf big boys – Duncan, KG, Brand, etc. J-O only scores well only against the Eastern Conf big men (his stats vs. these guys were mentioned on AM 570). Odom, if playing consistently, can match whatever J-O gives, so adding Bynum to the mix is a losing deal for the Lakers. Odom had a couple of games where he had 15, 16, 17 rebounds, which I don’t think J-O does regularly. I say the Lakers’ priorities should be: 1.) KG 2.)If not KG, then Pau Gasol 3.) If not the previous 2, then Artest while keeping Odom. Kobe, Artest, and Odom combined with a solid veteran PG (like D-Fish) would be very solid- at least on paper better than the Jazz who went to the WC Finals (who only had Derron, Boozer, Okur , AK and Fish).
I hope the Lakers make a move soon as this offseason has been killing us all, especially when nothing’s happening.

http://WWW.AOL.COM FOXXY

KEEP LAMAR…HE GAVE US HIS ALL EVEN WITH ONLY ONE ARM AND A BAD LEG…SEND BYNUM AND SOMEONE ELSE AS A TRADE!!!

http://WWW.AOL.COM FOXXY

BYNUM WONT DEVELOP FOR YEARS TO COME!!!!! WE DON’T HAVE YEARS TO WAIT AROUND!!!

http://kb24.com MO6

Man i don’t want JO in LA JO is WAY to OVERRATED! JO is GARBAGE PAu is better.

lakerfan81

Why would the lakes want Yi. He has a lot of potential but has a very long way to go. He still has a lot to improve on. the two major things being Defense and Stamina. For stamina reasons alone he will not be able to play many minutes a game for at least 1 year or 2.

billyboy

fuck, jermaine.

this is getgarnett.com and we want KG.
and btw i would never trade odom PLUS bynum for o’neal. that nigga ain’t worth it

http://www.myspace.com/ericthaimyshoe Eric Thai

This is not a bad line up.

PG: FisherSG: Bryant C: BynumPF: OdomSF: Artest

http://www.lakerfreak.homestead.com lakerfreak

why would we trade odom for JO odom is the first player who plays the way kobe plays the first player to play with kobe who will play through pain and wants to win I think we need tpo keep odom no matter what unless we get KG in return and i know everyone wants something big but i think its KG or nothing plus i think bynum is going to have a big year this year I think we just need to sign fisher and mihm and maybe try to get artest if we dont need to trade a starter and then you have a lineup of people who understand the triangle really well for once with fisher in the backcourt and kobe odom and luke plus farmar and jaravis (played the triangle in high school) remember before injuries we were 3rd in the league we just need a pg
unless we can get garnett of course

http://Lakers.com Ed24

Here is a great idea. How about we trade Odom and Cook for JO, and than trade Bynum and JO to Minny for Garnett. There is no way Minny wouldn’t want those two. GREAT GREAT GREAT deal for eveyone invoved.

cyrus

My Dear Fellow Bloggers,

We all are anxious to see an improved roster to climb to the elite level. We want the Lakers’ management to trade some of our players for other players and want All-star Players to be on Kobe’s side. However, we must be careful with some our suggestions and do our homework and research the value and performance of the players to be traded before we demand trades.

I am sure the following is nothing new for most of you; I am posting it just in case somebody has missed it.

We all know that player’s performance is measured in Points, Rebounds, Assists, Turnovers and some other data per game. With so many players in the league, it would require a lot of work to compare all those numbers. NBA has simplified all that data in one simple value called EFF. It’s a complicated mathematical formula, which takes all of the above performance data (PPG, RPG, APG, TPG etc) in calculation and combines it in one value. It’s an easy and reliable way of determining player’s performance. Go to NBA.com, click on “STAT”, it gives you the player’s stats including EFF. Also, you may compare 2 players side by side if you click on “COMPARE PLAYERS” on the right side of the page (first you must select a player before it can give the “COMPARE” option.)http://www.nba.com/statistics/

Another great tool to work with is the “NBA HOT ZONES”. This one gives you player’s shot percentage from different parts of the court. It has a map of the court with player’s shots missed and made from different areas of the court. Visit the NBA site:http://www.nba.com/hotzones/

And Finally, I see some are still using the ESPN trade machine. It’s a great tool but it is still giving you the 06-07 salaries which have expired as of July 1st. I hope they update it soon to 07-08 salaries so we can play fantasy GM again.

Have fun.

Rong

Well if we actually get JO for Cook and Bynum, then a lineup with Bryant, Odom, and O’neal will be great already. I don’t think Min will even want Odom and JO since they are looking for young prospects.

http://myspace.com/kali06 lakers24

LAKERS NEED TO AQUICE ARTEST IN TRADE FOR BROWN. BROWN HAS NO BALL HANDLING. WITH KOBE, ARTEST, ODOM, AND ADDING ANOTHER PT. GAURD THEY WILL AT LEAST BE A CONTENDER. DONT MENTION THAT SUE YUN IS GONNA B A HUGE PART WHEN HE COMES. N OH YEA GETTING GARNETT IN 09 BECAUSE HE CAN OPT OUT N GO TO ANY TEAM. >>>2008-2009 STARTING LINE UP_________KOBE, ODOM, GARNETT, ARTEST, AND WHOEVER

steve

WELCOME LAKER FANS.After seeing Greg Oden,s results from his first rookie game it looks like the value of bynum may have gone up a little.I know some people may say its his first game and all but bynum is going into his 3rd season and has gotten better every year,what was it 7.5 points a game thats not to shabby for the size of his contract.Kevein durant had a better showing as did yi,so i think it makes bynum look that little bit better for us.

http://www.myspace.com/ericthaimyshoe Eric Thai

Indiana’s not going to take Odom and Cook for JO, they want Odom and Bynum.

too quiet on the KG ground… I guess that reports sayin KG talks are gonn rekindle by mid-July are TRUE…

whaddya think ppl?

http://www.getgarnett.com Rok

I think we should just trade for JO.. give up odom and bynum.. and why do we need a veteran PG.. we got crittenton and farmar .. we don’t need no old guys.. farmar will come nicely this year i’m sure of it

http://www.myspace.com/lakerfantilidie lakerfantilidie

In all honesty, I would love to have KG, but in reality, it’s gonna cost us a lot more than if we went for JO. JO makes more sense. If we can get Indy to accept, we should offer Kwame, Bynum, Farmar & nothing more. If they don’t accept, stick with what we got, go after Fisher, make a stab at Artest, and then use the MLE to go for Darko, Ely, Fortson, or PJ Brown. Then try to sign KG next summer.

http://www.getgarnett.com Rok

Cus i don’t think we’re getting KG.. ain’t worth of waiting.. Cus KG talks stall.. and maybe nothing will happen.. or he’ll get traded elsewhere… And at that time, maybe JO won’t be avalible no more.. and
that would be pretty fucked up.

cyrus

Charley Rosen is one of my favorite Sportswriter. From old school, unbiased and very objective. He has an article in Foxsports.com:

It’s well worth reading. He also talks about Luke Walton and approves the signing with an A.

Big D

To cyrus’ point, LO has a slightly better EFF than JO, and KG is slightly better than KB (#1 vs. #2).

Thus LO Bynum for JO makes NO sense.

So, get KG without giving up LO and start counting the rings.

LO KB JO would be a decent fallback.

I think we will acquire either KG or LO early next week.

lakersforlife77

There must be something wrong, that’s supposed to say kevin Garnett. :-\

Fatty

KG to LA [Trade-O-Meter] reports a signifigant drop

Saturday at 3:00 [89%] Largest single drop in rating in one day

All this talk of JO has got it depressed, plus it feels and senses the anxious waiting of bloggers for a trade to go down

cyrus

Big D,

Yes, I agree, JO swap for LO and Bynum is not a smart move and I don’t think Lakers would do it.

In KG’s case, I really don’t think we can do it without giving Odom. Simply because of KG’s $29-Mil salary (07-08 season, KG may wave all or part of 15% bonus and bring it down to $22-Mil). Odom with his $13-Mil salary would absorb big chunk of KG’s whopping payroll check. Also, we may have to include Kwame as well. One, because of his $9-Mil salary. Two, Wolves are trying to lower their cap and Kwame’s expiring contract next year must be attractive to Minnys.

As suggested by some our friends here, best move would be to get Pao Gasol, his EFF is 25.5, his salary is “only” $13.7 Mil which could keep Lamar in the roster. Gasol is 7-1 and perfect center.

KG and Jo are both 6-11 and power forwards, which doesn’t mean they couldn’t play center. If they go to 5 position, who will play 4 (power forward) in absence of Lamar?

Pao Gasol is the logical solution but he hasn’t demanded a trade lately and if he does, half of the league would go after him because of the reasons mentioned above.

cyrus

Fatty,

“Hey I hate Artest as well (He doesn’t take care of his dogs).”

I agree, animal cruelty breaks my heart and that’s the only reason I hate him too. But for the sake of our beloved team we should get him if we don’t have to pay a high price for the guy.

I think, Lakers are waiting to have a closure to KG or JO deal before they trade Kwame. His $9.-mil expiring contract could absorb a big chunk of KG or JO salary and his one year deal makes it so much more attractive to other team.

lakersforlife77

Well I think if we get artest and minny is still being stubborn trying to find ANY trade they can before they trade kevin garnett to us, why not do the jo trade. Then we have kobe/artest/jo and we pick up some vets. That’s a pretty damn good team.

lakers4life

i wouldnt mind have kobe/artest/jo then maybe d-fish, we can get jo if we want, but we need to try to get artest first

lakersforlife77

[quote comment=”6067″]i wouldnt mind have kobe/artest/jo then maybe d-fish, we can get jo if we want, but we need to try to get artest first[/quote]

Ya no way I would take that deal unless we had artest first, because a kobe/jo tandem just isn’t enough

lakers4life

if would be much easier for kobe if we get artest, not to guard the teams best player

http://WWW.AOL.COM FOXXY

ODOM STAYS…GET ARTEST AND A VET PG…WE’LL BE READY FOR BIZZNESS FO SHO!!!!!

That would be a very competitive team. Defense could be outstanding. Offense great.

Kwame stays if he gets some sort of velcro or fly paper transplant to his hands.

I’m just saying if…….

http://www.lakerfreak.homestead.com lakerfreak

[quote comment=”6054″]im watching the 88 finals lakers vs pistons, and james worthy is unbelievable, 35,16,and 10[/quote]
I watched that too

Rpoc

Steve “BskBALL” Kyler has spewed so much ISH and people still respond to his stuff!!! His article keeps getting mentioned on message boards.

I give credit for Pincus improving his crediblity but Hoopsworld is a land waste.

Let’s not forget the radio hacks too.

Hackshaw. Joe the “retarded” fatty who thinks 2 years old news is breaking news.

Steve “BskBALL” Kyler. I mean how can you think this guy is credible with that idiotic middle name? How do these people get jobs!

DEREK “CHEATER” JETER

LAKERS WILL GET KG # 21 END OF JULY WRITE IT DOWN, PUBLISH IT.

decade

I think the reason we dont have o’neal already is because we are waiting to see where KG goes, I think the lakers are keep pushing for KG until he is offically signed on another team, and when that happens is when we will make a move for JO, and when we do make a move for JO we better not give up both bynum and lamar because thats too much for JO.

Sepehr

Oneal is injury prone and is not worth 19M a year. He has been playing in the east with not much competition and his numbers are inflated. Lamar and Bynum is a ripoff for Oneal. This deal will not happen and it shouldnt happen with the guys that indiana wants. Pau gasol is easier to get and a better player in my opinion. The lakers only chance of sigining someone this year are gasol or KG. Lakers have no other money to deal with and will be over the cap space, so that means no Mo williams, Darko, Billups etc………..

lakersforlife77

[quote comment=”6079″]Oneal is injury prone and is not worth 19M a year. He has been playing in the east with not much competition and his numbers are inflated. Lamar and Bynum is a ripoff for Oneal. This deal will not happen and it shouldnt happen with the guys that indiana wants. Pau gasol is easier to get and a better player in my opinion. The lakers only chance of sigining someone this year are gasol or KG. Lakers have no other money to deal with and will be over the cap space, so that means no Mo williams, Darko, Billups etc………..[/quote]

He’s actually not easier to get, he’s cheaper and a more logical choice, but not easier to get. Memphis does not have to trade him right now so why would they make a fire sale for him? I originally wanted Pau Gasol but Memphis does not have to trade him for nothing at the moment.

lakerfan81

I think patience would be a good idea for the Lakers. They obviously do not want to overpay for a star. They want to see if they can get Garnett. IN the mean time they can make some smaller moves for other pieces the lakers will need if they want to contend. They need quality veteran role players. The role players do not necessarily have to be older they just need to be smart and know the game of basketball. As of right now the lakers have a few. Walton. He has not been in the league very long but he grew up with a father that played in the NBA, so he knows how to play. Turiaf: He has only been in the league for a couple years but he played on a great Gonzaga team and experience with the french national team. Evans; He played internationally and seems to understand the nuances of the game. These players can be good role players. On the other had we have a very inexperienced starters on the front court. Bynum: Hes only 19 it will take him a while to learn the game of basketball. Kwame: I know everyone says he sucks, but I just think he does not really know how to play basketball. You can tell by all the little mental mistakes that he makes during the game. So while the lakers are waiting to make a big trade they can make little ones. Ones for other role playes such as Posey, Head, Fisher to name a few that are available. IF you wait then Minnesota gets more and more desperate to move Garnett, because at the end of the season he will opt out and they will get nothing in return (well they could do a sign and trade). just remember Garnett can veto any trade by just saying he will opt out. No team will trade for a player at that price just to have him opt out. S

So just be patient.

http://myspace.com/crunklilgangsta Kenny

If we gat artest then hell yeah trade bynum and odom for JO !!!!!!!!!!

And also jo and artest have a good history. I had forgotten that they were teammates in indiana . Since these artest rumors have been brought back up I really hope it gets done.

ryguy2303

any news yet?
cant wait until the 11th!

lakersforlife77

[quote comment=”6086″]any news yet?
cant wait until the 11th![/quote]

Don’t get your hopes up man, remember what happened on draft day? I bet the only thing we will hear on the 11th is that Walton is offcialy signed. Other news will come with time.

cyrus

Lakerfan81,

I like what you’re saying and it make sense. However, I really don’t think Bynum could blossom anytime soon. I just don’t see him to be the “Right Stuff” and while we are waiting for Bynum to bear any fruits, we may lose Kobe. In his exit interview, Phil Jackson said that we need a full time big man (center)and he pretty much ignored Bynum in that statement. As of right now we don’t have any 7 footers beside the kid. and I am not too keen on Mihm.

KG is hot commodity and half of the league is after him and they are all waiting. When KG and that stupid McHale (Wolves GM) are ready to move, we are going to have the same frenzy we had before the draft.

I personally think they should push for KG or Gasol now and get all the wheels spinning to get it done. Waiting for JO is different and make sense. He’s overpriced and comes with $65-Mil tag. That makes many teams think twice before they move.

cyrus

How about Yi Jianlian?

As most of you know, The 20 years old 6-11 Chinese Star player and number 6 on the draft board, was drafted by Milwaukee Bucks on June 28.

Yi is not very thrilled to play in a city with a Chinese population of only 1200, he wants to play on a team in one of the metropolitan area with larger Asian minorities. He has been refusing to even talk to the Buck’s management until yesterday. They had a one hour meeting at a hotel under NBA pressure. Even Chinese government has objection to Yi playing for Bucks.

It looks like Bucks are left with just an potion of trading Yi, because he has threatened to go back to China and play there which would kill his chances of becoming and NBA player for a long time. But that wouldn’t help the Buck either, they lose Yi and get nothing in return.

Los Angeles, San Fransisco and NY have the largest Asian/Chinese population and could get involved in a possible trade.

J-Cool

Yeah What About The Time That Artest And JO Got In A Brawl With The Pistons Fans?

Sep08

[quote comment=”6089″]How about Yi Jianlian?

As most of you know, The 20 years old 6-11 Chinese Star player and number 6 on the draft board, was drafted by Milwaukee Bucks on June 28.

Yi is not very thrilled to play in a city with a Chinese population of only 1200, he wants to play on a team in one of the metropolitan area with larger Asian minorities. He has been refusing to even talk to the Buck’s management until yesterday. They had a one hour meeting at a hotel under NBA pressure. Even Chinese government has objection to Yi playing for Bucks.

It looks like Bucks are left with just an potion of trading Yi, because he has threatened to go back to China and play there which would kill his chances of becoming and NBA player for a long time. But that wouldn’t help the Buck either, they lose Yi and get nothing in return.

Los Angeles, San Fransisco and NY have the largest Asian/Chinese population and could get involved in a possible trade.[/quote]

This kid is unproven and is nowhere close to NBA ready. The lakers should not go after him at all. If i were the bucks I would not trade him and make him rott in china for 4 years. What an ungrateful kid for not wanting to play in the NBA.

lakersforlife77

[quote comment=”6100″][quote comment=”6089″]How about Yi Jianlian?

As most of you know, The 20 years old 6-11 Chinese Star player and number 6 on the draft board, was drafted by Milwaukee Bucks on June 28.

Yi is not very thrilled to play in a city with a Chinese population of only 1200, he wants to play on a team in one of the metropolitan area with larger Asian minorities. He has been refusing to even talk to the Buck’s management until yesterday. They had a one hour meeting at a hotel under NBA pressure. Even Chinese government has objection to Yi playing for Bucks.

It looks like Bucks are left with just an potion of trading Yi, because he has threatened to go back to China and play there which would kill his chances of becoming and NBA player for a long time. But that wouldn’t help the Buck either, they lose Yi and get nothing in return.

Los Angeles, San Fransisco and NY have the largest Asian/Chinese population and could get involved in a possible trade.[/quote]

This kid is unproven and is nowhere close to NBA ready. The lakers should not go after him at all. If i were the bucks I would not trade him and make him rott in china for 4 years. What an ungrateful kid for not wanting to play in the NBA.[/quote]

Absolutely no rookies. We can’t pursue rookies that’s taking a step in the opposite direction of where we are attempting to go. We need veterans, established veterans. And besides I doubt Yi will ever amount to anything special, he’ll just become another yao, a pretty good basketball player, but not dominant at his position.

lakersfan17

J.O’neal is another player when playing in the West.

Jimmy M.

ey dog can we get some new news?

jermaine already said he would like to play on lakers before season ended

IE Laker

From Hoopsworld.com (Eric Pincus)

“Odom to the Celtics
This scenario relies on the premise that the Celtics accept that they are not getting Garnett for themselves.

Through his agent, Garnett has indicated Boston is not a favorable destination. It’s possible that may have changed after the Celtics traded for Ray Allen, but Garnett would cost at least Al Jefferson, who is a fan favorite.

It also assumes that Dr. Buss is willing to pay hefty luxury taxes that could exceed $10 million in 2007/8 alone. He could face a similar amount for each year Garnett is with the team.

Those taxes would be the price to not only keep Kobe Bryant but more importantly keep the fan base that goes along with him. Given the tax bill, Buss may not agree.

It also assumes that the Wolves want to shed as much long-term salary as they can while bringing in last year contracts, young players and draft picks. As far as which picks? Let the respective general managers hash that part out.

So here goes:

The Lakers send Lamar Odom to Boston.

The Celtics in turn deal Theo Ratliff and Gerald Green to the Timberwolves.

Minnesota trades Garnett, Mark Blount and Marko Jaric to LA.

Finally the Lakers package Kwame Brown, Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Aaron McKie to the Wolves. McKie would have to agree to a sign and trade at a minimum of $1.4 million. He can sign for up to $3 million before the base year compensation rule kicks in.

Based on the finances of the proposed deal, Garnett can waive his trade kicker. While giving up $6.75 million may seem unlikely at first glance, the Lakers can make up for Garnett’s lost wages with a lucrative extension.

The Celtics basically swap out a promising young guard and a last year contract for the versatile Odom. While the knock on the forward is that he’s not a consistently productive scorer, he is a tenacious rebounder and strong playmaker. The Celtics will have plenty of scoring with Paul Pierce, Allen and Jefferson.

With Odom the Celtics get tremendous flexibility. They can put Jefferson at center and Odom gives them a second low post option. They can put Kendrick Perkins at the five and Odom at the three, which would be strong defensively.

In picking up Allen in trade from the Seattle SuperSonics, the Celtics have gone down the “win now” path and Odom would help make the Celtics one of the top teams in the East.

The Wolves add one of the top center prospects in the league in Bynum. They also get a pair of guards with huge upside in Green and Farmar.

In addition to three nice young players and a bunch of expiring contracts, Minnesota saves $7.4 million in payroll for the coming season. Beyond 2007/8 they shed $37.8 million by moving Jaric and Blount.

In 2008/9 the Wolves would have a nice chunk of cap space available with just $34.9 million on the books. They’d have a bright young crew of backcourt/wing players in Corey Brewer, Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, Farmar and Green . . . along with Bynum in the frontcourt.

They’d need to bring in a long-term solution at the four, but the rebuilding process would have made a sizable leap forward.

The Lakers land Garnett, pacify Bryant and give the NBA a very marketable contender in LA (which is good for the entire league). The Lakers give up a lot to get Garnett, but by bringing in Blount and Jaric they’d at least have serviceable bodies back to round out the roster.

They can still look to sign Derek Fisher with part of the Mid-Level Exception and bring back Chris Mihm to fortify the front line.

Perhaps LA uses the balance of their Mid-Level on a defensive-minded small forward. Maybe they bring in either or both of their second-round picks (Sun Yue or Marc Gasol).

Laker payroll would skyrocket into the $82 million range, which means luxury taxes for Dr. Buss.

Is that a team that can compete for the NBA Championship?

Do the Lakers give up too much?

Do the Celtics want Lamar Odom? Would they want to make a deal that helps the Lakers pair Garnett with Bryant?

Do the Wolves get enough in return for Garnett?

Do other teams make better offers?

At some point the fantasy probably crashes to the reality that the answer is “no.”

For now it is the summertime and fantasy is just about all Laker fans have until the current crisis is resolved for better or worse.

Of course the Celtics aren’t the only team who can help the Lakers land Garnett. With Lamar Odom as bait perhaps another team would step up (Chicago?) but unfortunately multi-team trades are very hard to come by.

Perhaps the Wolves won’t find any better offers than Bynum and Odom and make things easy for LA . . . but it’s far more likely they hold onto Garnett until the trade deadline to see if they can’t get the perfect package.

Social

Latest

With the Lakers off to a poor start, trade rumors have begun to swirl around Kobe Bryant, leading many to speculate if he'll leave for greener pastures. Kobe puts those rumors to rest in his interview with Yahoo Sports.

Popular Categories

With the Lakers off to a poor start, trade rumors have begun to swirl around Kobe Bryant, leading many to speculate if he'll leave for greener pastures. Kobe puts those rumors to rest in his interview with Yahoo Sports.